Season of anomie

The Nigerian Leviathan has finally decided to bare his fangs. He has moved from being an emperor to a Leviathan; one in whose temple all must worship or be sacrificed to the political gods of the land. I have always had reservation about operating a one-party state. It is the only reason why I rejoiced when a coterie of relatively weaker parties decided to fuse into one in order to challenge the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). The resultant All Progressives Congress (APC) was able to attract discontents from the PDP and it appeared the 2015 general elections would not be a stroll in the park for the party that has monopolized the hold on power in the past 15 years. It appeared that the boast that PDP would maintain its hold on the levers of power at all levels for 60 years could be vigorously challenged.

At the time, no one reckoned with what the man in the saddle could do to ensure that power did not slip off. We have since realised that the PDP has enough resolve to decapitate and decimate others and gobble up opposition leaders and democratic institutions. An obvious move has now been made to destabilize the APC. As was the situation during the Obasanjo regime, especially between 2005 and 2007, the Federal Government has now chosen to encourage dissension in the major opposition party and is using impeachment as weapon of enforcing compliance with its diktat.

As was the case under Obasanjo, institutions of state are being subverted and used to hound opponents of the government. Wherever the governor refused to dance to the music supplied from Aso Villa, the Leviathan deploys money and other weapons to suborn the lawmakers on spurious charges and, within a few days, the governor, and possibly his deputy are pushed away from the dais to make room for a quisling. It is a dangerous turn- dangerous for the President, his party and the country. It could be likened to using a hammer to slaughter a fly that perches on the eyelid.

Does the President have the moral right to raise issues with ethical standards in the states? What has he done with the popular quest to bring sanity to bear on the management of our oil revenue? How has he responded to the call for removal of the powerful Oil Minister-Diezani Alison-Madueke? She is being shielded from accounting for how the subsidy money is being expended. And, how has his Attorney General handled the prosecution of cases against former PDP national chairman Vincent Ogbulafor? What improvement has been made in terms of transparency in budgeting and financial management? Why is the country wittingly moving into the debt trap again? Could anyone justify what the money being borrowed is being used for?

While state governors and officials are being persecuted, what example is being set at the federal level? Stella Oduah was indicted in the reckless purchase of two armoured vehicles by the aviation ministry, but rather than make her face the music, she was helped out of the system and presented as a paragon of hard work. The journalists are also being hounded by federal agency. The outlook is indeed ominous.

Our President is desperate. The PDP would stop at nothing to win the next presidential elections and capture the states. The same gale that blew across the land in the Second Republic when the NPN could not read the mood of the nation and deployed federal resources to rake in fake votes from states controlled by the opposition is about being released on the political landscape now. Realising that the North and the discerning and politically conscious Nigerians would do all possible to halt the clueless administration of the man from Otuoke, the President is now resorting to strong-arm tactics. Knowledge of the Nigerian political history would help the President avoid pushing this country off the precipice.

As the Commander-in-Chief, he should also call military tacticians to teach him what happened to all Generals who decided to open too many flanks at the same time. Why would attempting to remove the governors of Rivers, Nasarawa and Edo be considered smart by anyone? Anyone who understands those involved would realise that Rotimi Amaechi, Adams Oshiomhole and Tanko Almakura would not go down like trhe lamb; they are unlikely to yield the other cheek as the PDP deals them slaps on one. They are suave and charismatic. Unwittingly, the President and his men could be setting this house on fire.

The Yoruba talk about the monkey who, trusting its dexterity at prancing from tree to tree decides to jump beyond the leavers of the tree. It finds itself calamitously writhing in pains or broken.

Let the hawks make way for the doves in the cabinet to have the ears of this President.